365-1 Buñuelos!!

Buñuelos are a crispy, sweet, cinnamony treat that is served during Christmas and New Years in Mexico. Whenever we would go visit relatives in Mexico during Christmas time - we were served mountains of these along with tamales, hot punch, chocolate or coffee. This year i found an easier way to make the Buñuelos and thought i'd give it a try. Instead of mixing a dough and rolling out in nice perfect rounds (not easy to do), you can use a ready-made flour tortilla and whip these up in no time!

You'll need a package of ready-made flour tortillas, oil for frying (about 1/4 cup) and some cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top.

Add the oil to a fry pan and heat until very hot. Then gently slip in one tortilla. You can also cut the tortilla in strips and fry several strips at a time. These work great to serve with ice cream. This go around i made the nice big round ones. You'll need to flip the tortilla to get it browned on both sides. This is easiest with a pair of tongs. These cook really fast so you'll need to keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

Once browned on both sides, set on a paper towel to drain and while still hot sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon evenly over the top of the Buñuelo. Some stores will sell the cinnamon and sugar in one container already mixed. This can be found in the spice section of the store. Serve while still warm. Enjoy!

365 project and end of year thoughts

Prompt: 5 minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.


Soon the year 2010 will be gone. And 2011 will be here with a chance to make new memories, start new projects (hopefully finish more of them) and meet new friends or just spend more time with the ones we have. What I want to remember most about 2010:

The “road trips” with my daughters to our favorite Chinese restaurant – Mr. Chopsticks

The times my son would sit down and actually talk to us - discussing world topics, celebrity happenings or just whatever instead of holing up in his room to watch movies.

Everyone is so busy getting to work, going to class – those times we actually got to sit down for dinner together are priceless.

The day my oldest daughter got engaged – if my child is happy I’m happy.  :)
Watching my youngest daughter play with her ‘puppies’ – rolling around on the floor with them she is not the ornery “Mom I know what I’m doing!” teenager-on-verge-of-adulthood. Just a sweet young girl enjoying the moment.

Plus all the moments i captured with my camera this year - some good, some not so good - but that's ok. I stopped to smell the roses, enjoy the magnificence of a sunrise/sunset and God's Glory in all of it. Thankful for this moment in time. Here are what i consider my best for this year. Since practice makes perfect - 2011 will definitely be something to look forward to:

All the rest is already a blur, a hodgepodge of the daily mundane activities that need to be done plus other moments I can’t recall in only 5 minutes.

And now it’s your turn, the timer starts now.

Happy New Year/Feliz Año Nuevo!!

Still Learning....

 I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

One of my New Year's Resolutions - to do better at this in 2011 than in 2010. :) 

In One Word

I came across a site the other day whose mission is to help people reflect on the past year and throughout the month of December create (through one-word prompts) a ‘vibe’ for what you would like the New Year to be for you. I came across the site kind of late but no matter – there is no deadline or ‘must do’ start date. And that is what helped me decide on my word for next year – liberation. The act of setting free. That is how I have begun to feel this month - free and liberated – through the act of saying ‘No’.

To say ‘No’ is not an easy thing for me because I like to try anything and everything at least once. I also like to help people whether it’s through agreeing to buy something to help them in their sales quota, the bum on the corner wanting some money (and then immediately finds the nearest liquor store or bus heading toward the casinos – seriously we’ve seen them do this) or over booking on activities because I don’t want to disappoint others by not showing up for their thing. I then become stressed and overwhelmed by all I have to do and depressed because I don’t finish everything.

And when I have said no it’s very hard not to go back and say yes thinking I can squeeze this in or go ahead and buy that. However, when I say no and stick with it – I feel such a feeling of liberation. I guess because now I have my time back. Time to take care of my home, spend it with my family, read a book (which I haven’t done in forever) or just sit quietly with a glass of wine reflecting on the day.

A couple of weeks ago while planning the family Christmas dinner with my sisters I was able to say No to making 2 turkeys worth of tamales. That is a lot of tamales to be made and a whole day and evening of back breaking work. Plus there is no way we will be able to eat all of them. Although many friends and co-workers may be disappointed, they will not be receiving a gift of tamales this year from me. With one sister only committing to 4 hours of work there is no way we will get them all done at a decent hour. So it will only be 1 turkey this year and any leftovers we can divvy up. It will be more than plenty for the family (kids, husbands, in-laws). Just the other day my husband pulled out a Ziploc gallon bag full of last years tamales. Point made.

I have found that saying No is a lot like the weight battle – there will be times when I slip (like the other day when I said yes to something I shouldn’t have) but I will start every day with a more thoughtful end in mind to how and when I give of my time and efforts towards a liberating 2011!

What one word reflects your inspiration for next year?

Resolutions

As the New Year has come this is all you hear every time you turn on the tv or pick up a magazine. Most of them of course have to do with weight loss, managing your money or just being a better person. And in a couple of months everyone will have either stopped doing whatever they promised to do until next New Year’s eve comes around. I did not make any resolutions and figure I’ll just keep working on what I try to work on all year long anyway  which is eating more nutritionally and trying to buy as much as I can locally (veggies, fruits, dairy, etc.). One good site I’ve found for this is Local Harvest

You can sign up to receive updates on local farm happenings and more. Another thing I constantly work on all year is keeping fit and healthy by exercising and taking my vitamins and supplements. These are my main sources of supplements and vitamins – www.discoverlimu.com/aurora, www.blufrogenergy.com/aurora and www.ardysslife.com/gilrod - the Cran Aloe, Le’vive and Triple Lifeline all help me meet my health goals by providing daily recommended nutrients and antioxidants to help fight illness and strengthen my immune system.

And of course working on making money through the opportunities with Limu and Ardyss as well as saving money where I can.  David Bach has just come out with a brand new book “Start Over, Finish Rich”.  Seems to be the story of my life (the starting over part)! The best part is today only, Jan. 4 you can download a free copy of it - Start Over, Finish Rich 

Of course if you buy the book you’ll receive many more bonuses for free, so you decide which of the two is the better bargain.

For this year I resolve to keep on improving my relations, my outlook, my life….